Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Acquires 110 Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,150 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 457.5% in the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Philip Morris International by 203.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 2,709.1% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the third quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Philip Morris International from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Philip Morris International from $118.50 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 101,918 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.85, for a total value of $13,234,052.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 959,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,624,965.85. The trade was a 9.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.98, for a total transaction of $974,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,402,431.64. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

Shares of PM stock opened at $121.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $125.50 and a 200-day moving average of $121.19. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.82 and a one year high of $134.15. The stock has a market cap of $189.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.68 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.35% and a negative return on equity of 117.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

Philip Morris International Profile

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.